Thursday, August 16, 2012

Headlines - Thursday August 16

Several commenters have asked that I provide examples of Republicans making reasonable economic arguments; some of them seem to be saying that I'm proving my bias if I don't provide such examples.

But it doesn't work that way: if all Republicans are saying unreasonable things, then it's a distortion — indeed, a form of bias — to insist that there must be reasonable Republicans…

It's kind of the "treason never prospers" argument ("for if it prospers, none dare call it treason"); if someone declares that tax cuts don't pay for themselves, or that printing money when you're in a liquidity trap isn't deeply inflationary, or that fear of Obamacare isn't holding the economy back, he ceases to be considered a member in good standing of the GOP. There are, therefore, no reasonable Republicans on these issues.

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Last week Mitt Romney stated that any discussion of his business record, his taxes or the way he made his fortune should not be discussed as part of the Presidential Campaign:

"[O]ur campaign would be—helped immensely if we had an agreement between both campaigns that we were only going to talk about issues and that attacks based upon—business or family or taxes or things of that nature… [would not be allowed]"

While most folks think this is silly, Mitt is serious about it. He really believes that nobody should be allowed to discuss anything about his record that might be a liability. His sense of entitlement is amazing. More »

You may recall that this is the Family Research Center's pro-marriage rhetoric:

"Who do you think is ultimately behind the efforts to advance the radical homosexual agenda, indoctrinate our children, and ruin our military, now? Who's behind the efforts to get God out of government, Christ out of culture, and faith out of public life? Who's behind it? Well, I think we've got a pretty clear answer. [laughter] The Devil is behind it! So, the real enemy…it's not the poor, deluded souls who are advancing these ungodly agendas—they're simply pawns in the hands of their malevolent master. They need to be set free by the grace of God in the person of Jesus Christ—amen?…As you think about this battle in which we're engaged, you need to think about who the real enemy is that we're fighting against here, and that is, the fact is, we're up against the organized, mobilized, demonized forces of hell itself. And really, to the victor goes the prize of the America our children will inherit, so this is a fight we dare not lose. Amen?"###

Although he predicted it would not happen, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Wednesday it would be "wise" for President Obama to take Vice President Joe Biden off the Democratic presidential ticket and replace him with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton .

Because Grandpa Walnuts knows how to pick running mates.

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News from the Lizard People - Horrible Queen of the sun cancer people Jan Brewer (R- Arizonastan) does not like that uppity Barack Obama fellow one bit, not even a little. Anyway in her terrible desert kingdom, Brewer signed an executive order saying Arizona had no plans to give government benefits, including drivers licenses, to the tens of thousands of young, undocumented immigrants in that state who would be getting work permits and immunity from deportation under President Obama's new immigration policy. Of course Arizonastan already does all of that, so it was just more of ancient hate goblin Brewer's grandstanding and finger-pointing to rile up the Olds against the Kenyan Usurper Hawaiian Devil Baby. The end. (TPM)

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Welcome to Jacksonville - The City of Jacksonville FL (motto: "Home of the newly wed and the nearly dead") has decided that LGBT people have no place in their fair city, and voted 17 - 2 against a measure "that would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to the city's Human Rights Ordinance (HRO)". Gay people are not human in Florida? (Equality Florida)

A Nevada movie theater patron sustained a buttock injury last night when the handgun he was carrying in his pocket accidentally went off after falling to the floor.

The incident occurred last night during a screening of The Bourne Legacy at a Century 14 theater in downtown Sparks. No other injuries were reported, and no panic ensued.

"Witnesses inside the theater at the time the shot was fired stated that a (man) was adjusting himself in his seat when a gun he had on him discharged," Sgt. Pay Dyer said in a statement released to the press.

The 56-year-old, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, proceeded to apologize to other moviegoers in his immediate vicinity and exit the theater. Police tracked him down to a Reno hospital; his injury was not considered life-threatening.

Yep. Shot himself in the ass. And that's what you get when you follow the advice of a marble-mouthed wingnut like Louie Gohmert.

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In other news, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen subpoenaed JP Morgan Chase, Barclays, and UBS today in connection with their possible involvement in the LIBOR rate-fixing scandal.

But, I thought Jamie Dimon was clean as a whistle? A beacon of trust that shows Wall Street doesn't need to be regulated.

It's time for a FLASHBACK:

Mitt Romney held a fundraiser at Barclays' London HQ on the eve of the Olympics.

UBS was forced to hand over details of American clients in 2010 after the IRS filed a lawsuit with the Swiss government. UBS account holders were given amnesty in exchange for disclosing their hidden assets. We still don't know if Mitt Romney took part in that amnesty program.

HSBC was also subpoenaed today. They were recently found to be laundering money for terrorists and drug lords.

They're all dirty. And as Joe Biden said, Romney wants to "unchain" them.

"In an interview with NBC set to air Thursday, Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said her husband's campaign will not release any additional tax returns to the public ahead of the election.

"We have been very transparent to what's legally required of us," Romney told reporter Natalie Morales, according to excerpts from NBC News. "There's going to be no more tax releases given."

Interesting choice of words, Your Highness. And yet, if there is nothing to hide, then why say this?

Ann Romney said that releasing more details on the family's taxes would merely give the Obama campaign "more ammunition."

Cake. You can't have it and eat it, too.

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The ACA will reduce Medicare's projected spending by $716 billion and shore up the program's trust fund. The hospital insurance program now faces a shortfall over the next 75 years equal to 1.35 percent of taxable payroll — "much less than the size of the shortfall that the trustees estimated before the enactment of health reform: 3.88 percent of taxable payroll":